stapfam

Still not getting much riding in due to too many jobs to do.

My RV has a lot of jobs needed doing- Son-in-Law needs help in laying the patio stones in his sunken garden- Gardening is taking a fair amount of time and there seems to be a lot of Bureaucracy in retirement with a lot of time is being taken up with paperwork. Actual riding seems to be limited to a couple of rides a week and for me a meagre 50 miles or so. Still keeping up spinning at the gym but even that is now limited to one evening session that is with a good instructor. The other problem is this heatwave we are experiencing that is energy sapping with the high humidity.

Last night and I had that spinning session and I did not feel like doing much. Air conditioning is not that good and the temp was up around 75f before we started. So start off gentle and the whole ride was in climb mode. I like hills but a whole hour of climbing

Won't go into details but these spinning bikes have 24 levels of pressure and my flat road spinning is normally at level 12 and cadence of 90. That is my base level and 1 hour of that (Which I have done) will give me a calorie count of about 400 and a power meter average reading of around 120. In a normal spinning session I usually achieve around 140 average on the power meter and 500ish on calories. Sometimes less and sometimes more.

Last night and although not feeling like working- I very quickly was upping the pressure level to 14 and still on 90 cadence. Carry on Changing pressure and cadence as per instructor and I began to notice a change. Current power reading is normally around 160 and at the exerting parts I can sustain 200 for short periods. last night I was riding with a registered 180 as the norm on the power meter and on the hard bits I was seeing around 250. On one bit I saw that magic 300 but not for long- that did hurt. Pressure level was higher than normal aswell and the highest level I can sustain on say a 5 minute climb seated is 18. Last night I checked and I was at 21. Got to the cool down time at the end and I checked the readings. Calorie count was 598 so nothing exceptional but that power reading was high. Average power reading of 178. Way above the normal reading I get for an hour session.

I have no idea why my level had increased so much and thought it was the bike registering low but there is a way you can check power output and it was correct. But the instructor then asked if any of us had noticed a change in the lesson that night. What he had done was to get us to raise cadence and lower pressure on all of the ride. There were no standing hills at high pressure except as butt breaks for short periods of time. In hind sight I had found that cadence was higher- and power output was way above what I normally get. Contrary to what he had said- I also found that I was pulling higher pressure than I normally would so perhaps I was feeling better than I normally would.

The instructor said that he had been following part of the Sky Cycling Teams's training programme where higher cadence- lower gear seems to work for most of the team. Well last night it worked for me and just have to work out how to have a cadence of 100 in the lowest gear on the bike when the 12% for a mile comes up on a ride.

Retro Grouch 

Shouldn't that be Chris Varoome?

billydonn

I see a new nickname for you Stap:

"The Pride of Great Britain"

Your country is depending on you to uphold its honor....

Dudelsack 

They're all doping.

j/k. Froome seems like a stand-up guy. If he says he's clean, that's good enough for me. Just don't visit the Chris Froome thread.

Anyway, out on the street I have parked a Volvo sedan 1993 with a dead battery. I need to get a new one and take it for a spin. It's a solid well built car with a heavy body and an engine which is underpowered for it. It's a good car for teenagers because no matter how hard they lush it, it will only go so fast.

In the cycling world I'm a Volvo 1993 sedan. Froome is more of an Indy class. That's just the way it is.

Shp4man

I watched most of the tour on TV an enjoyed it. I was rooting for a stage win for Jens Voigt. If he can do it, an old fart like me can do better!

stapfam

Why is it that I can put on a few good performances in the Spinning class but it does not transpose to the rides? Last night and the heat did not seem to bother me whilst others were suffering. Even "Ross" was not up to his usual Big grin on face mode. I think he felt it in the heat and was only just in front of me on the power rating.

Hermes

I thought you were announcing a trip to Tenerife.

Three previous coaches advocated higher cadence for training. Many say cadence is a red herring and suggest self selection. Since I am a trackie, high cadence is required so I work on it. However, one must practice and train to spin faster. One can always select to spin slower.

Written whilst in Kensington, UK.

billydonn

Pride cometh before the fall.

Zinger

It's wild watching Froome spin up those climbs like he does. I've always been a high cadence cyclist since watching George Mount spin 'em on the flats. Spinning on climbs is another matter. I'm looking forward to putting on my compact Sugino 48/34 crankset this winter so I can try some of that.

Gerryattrick

"My name is Stapfam and I'm a spinaholic".

Unless it's part of a serious training programme for racing or rehab, there's no excuse for spin classes in the summer imo. Just remember the rubbish winter and spring weather that ruined riding and get outside while we have the weather.

I've never looked back and remembered a great gym session but there are loads of rides that stay in the memory.

Jseis 

Yeah...spinning is sweet until I did the 39-28 math at 90 rpm up 6%...ugh. My bicycle for a watt...well 390 of them. Time to go compact direct drive...1:1....and by my calcs...drop 56 pounds to get into Froome's weight class. At that point people will start giving me money and sympathy for my starving good looks.

CommuteCommando

I watched the duel he had with that kid Quintana, (Ventouix?) and I was thinking that he must be juicing. Then I watched more, especially how his mates pulled him up those hills. From what I gather, they are hitting the "Green juice", i.e. a huge budget for training and analysis. Team work was a huge factor, what Lemond is calling "ethical performance enhancement" If stapfam is benefiting, I may just look into what they are doing.

Spinning is something I have always tried to do when riding, just because it is more comfortable than mashing. As a Clyde I am running a 34 tooth cassette to keep from mashing too badly on the hills. My goal is to get to a weight where I can still spin running an 11-28 on the hills we have around here.

Artmo 

Stap - All you need now is to get elliptical chain rings to be really like Froomy!